[Jewelry making - Article 00315] - [Orchid] Using glue in the construction of jewellery

[Steve Green]

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Greetings All,

    (The following adhesive use information can be applied to many
    facets of jewelry making.) 

    In my briolette business I often deal with the issue of  "glue". To
    be correct, glue is not the proper name for what jewelers might use
    in the construction of their products. "Glue" is a protein derived
    adhesive made from animal or vegetable products. More advanced
    adhesives do not have biological origins like "glue" but are
    synthesized in labs and factories using more recent technology. So
    to be correct the word adhesive should be used when talking about
    modern substances like cyanoacrylates, epoxies, urethanes, acrylics
    and others out there. 

    Briolettes like pearls often rely on adhesives for setting.  There
    are  3 ways that I am aware of to fix them to jewelry. Two of these
    ways rely on adhesives. 

    see this link for the 3 ways to set briolettes:
    http://www.briolettes.com/b_setting.htm 

    I have done testing of these methods and found some very interesting
    results. Results which support the use of adhesives over mechanical
    methods. In all cases the adhesive setting methods proved stronger
    than the mechanical setting methods used to set briolettes. Repeated
    tests only proved to substantiate this. 

    see this link for the strength of the different adhesive and
    mechanical settings:     http://www.briolettes.com/b_strength.htm 

    One of the most important and overlooked elements to successful,
    strong adhesive bonds is proper surface preparation. Surfaces should
    not be polished or smooth but rather they should be rough or
    air-abraded when using adhesives. (Air-abrasion is sand-blasting
    with things other than sand, i.e. aluminum oxide, glass beads,
    silicon carbide, diamond, sand, etc.)  The abraded surface not only
    has increased area for a bond, but also has peaks and valleys for a
    mechanical grip by the adhesive. 

    Scratching with abrasive wheels or sand paper does not give
    equivalent results as air-abrasion. (one look under a microscope
    will show this fact). Also scratching induces stresses into the
    surface which could cause future failure. Similar to how glass
    breaks on the scratch when cutting it. 

    Surfaces should also be totally clean and grease free. 

    The proper adhesive is also very important. For jewelry the epoxies
    are best in my opinion. 

    a.. they can fill gaps up to .040", 

    b.. they have good shock resistance, 

    c.. can be broken down for disassembly with low heat, 

    d.. come in near colorless transparent, 

    e.. have good chemical and water resistance, 

    f.. have high tensile strength (over 4000 psi), 

    g.. come in a variety of working and cure times to meet the job
    requirements 

    I could go on about this, but it would be easier to just look at my
    site. It is all there. 

    Regards,  

    Steve Green  /   Rough and Ready Gems  /     www.briolettes.com 
    "now you have a friend in the briolette business"  to paraphrase Tom ; ) 

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